Verstappen equals record of 9 straight wins in F1 with victory at Dutch GP

Even one of the most chaotic wet weather races couldn't prevent Max Verstappen from winning the Dutch Grand Prix and extending his winning run to nine consecutive events. The Red Bull driver equals the record winning streak set by Sebastian Vettel in 2013 and is now well on his way to a third World Championship. In the process, the Dutchman maintained his 100% record of P1 finishes in the meaningful sessions at Zandvoort since the venue returned to the calendar in 2021.

The race saw heavy rain showers at the start and end, but the Red Bull strategy team navigated them with flying colours. Though Sergio Perez might feel hard done by when he was leading, his teammate was allowed to make an undercut when switching back to dry tyres. A red flag dropped due to heavy rain. After the restart, Perez picked up a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane. 

Fernando Alonso looked to prepare an attack on Verstappen after the red flag, but Verstappen switched on the intermediate tyres to complete the victory. Equipped with Aston Martin upgrades, the Spaniard finished on the podium. Pierre Gasly benefitted by quick thinking on the Alpine pit wall and moved up the order. He endured a fair few battles on the track and drove very well to hold onto P4. The Frenchmen then benefitted from Perez's five-second penalty to secure Alpine's second podium of the season.  

It was arguably one of the most comical starts to a Formula 1 race in recent memory. All drivers started on the dry tyres, but intermediates were needed by the time the drivers reached sector three on lap one. This created chaos on track and in the pits, as some drivers changed tyres and others tried to brave the conditions. The race situation changed again when Logan Sargeant crashed and triggered a safety car on lap 17. 

A red flag was triggered on lap 65 with Zhou in the barriers and very heavy rain falling. There was a significant delay before the race restarted with seven laps remaining. The FIA opted for a rolling start after two laps behind the safety car.

Mercedes lost out massively with the early rain shower. George Russell, who was forecast to finish on the podium, dropped from 3rd to 18th. His teammate Lewis Hamilton was the only driver to start on the medium, which made his wet weather challenge even harder. Russell recovered somewhat but then had to limp back to the pits with a puncture after the red flag restart. Ferrari were also left with more headaches as Charles Leclerc retired with damage. Their two teammates, Hamilton and Carlos Sainz battled in the closing stages for P5. The Ferrari driver beat the Mercedes driver.

Mixed up grid

The top six on the grid featured six different teams. Verstappen ensured he started on pole by managing a drying qualifying session on Saturday. Norris continued McLaren's impressive form by lining up on the front row. Russell made a late lunge in qualifying start to secure P3, whilst Albon surprised and achieved the fourth fastest time. Hamilton found himself starting in 13th, and Leclerc started from ninth. Verstappen's teammate, Perez, started from 7th. Kevin Magnussen had a power unit change and started from the pit lane. With dry conditions, all drivers selected the soft tyres apart from Hamilton, who started on the mediums. 

Unlike Silverstone, Norris didn't beat Verstappen into the first corner. By the time the drivers reached sector three, rain started falling. Some drivers decided to pit for intermediates, including Leclerc. Ferrari didn't have the tyres ready for the man from Monaco. Perez, who did pit, was seven seconds faster than leader Verstappen so the Dutchman also pitted. Russell, Norris and Albon all gambled to stay out as they saw Perez overtake for the lead. He had a 14 second lead on Verstappen by lap four when the rain stopped.

Verstappen overtook Zhou Guanyu for second place and started closing the gap to Perez. Piastri started to suddenly improve on the soft tyres which triggered a series of pitstops for dry tyres from most of the field. Verstappen was the first Red Bull driver to pit for softs, while Leclerc had to make a front-wing change. Perez came in on the following lap allowing the Dutchman to make a comfortable undercut. Checo questioned this on the radio almost immediately.

Safety car

Sargeant crashed out of the race to trigger a safety car. During this safety car period, Russell pitted for hard tyres on lap 17. This was an attempt to run until the end of the Grand Prix. Most drivers had at least two or three pit stops, whereas Albon was yet to stop and sat in 8th place. Verstappen survived the safety car restart on lap 22, and instead, Perez had to watch his mirrors for an attacking Alonso. The order didn't change significantly.

Alonso's attack on Perez was ruined in the pitstops on lap 50. The Aston Martin pit crew had a slow stop, and he lost places as a result. The two-time world champion worked his way back to the podium places by overtaking Sainz on lap 52. Rain was always suggested on the radio throughout the race, but talk about the changing conditions increased in frequency on lap 55. 

Drops started falling on lap 61, and Perez was the first to pit. Verstappen was told to box by Red Bull, but the Dutchman didn't pit until the following lap and stayed in the lead. Drivers, including Perez and Hamilton, started sliding off the track at turn one. Race control decided to throw a red flag with seven laps remaining. The race restarted behind the safety car and Verstappen cruised to victory.